P&S Students Tested Sample Chairs for New Medical and Graduate Education Building

“I’m here to sit in some chairs,” said Mary Kathryn Hannan, a fourth-year P&S student in a white coat, as she walked into the Alumni Auditorium lobby.

Michael Milgram Cohen, an associate project manager for Capital Project Management, pointed her toward a row of six cushioned, classroom-style chairs temporarily set up in the otherwise empty lobby.

She was one of 21 P&S students who responded to a call for student feedback on sample auditorium chairs for the new Medical and Graduate Education Building, under construction on Haven Avenue between West 171st and West 172nd Streets and slated to open in 2016.

The students sat down, stretched out their legs, and gave feedback on the feel of the cushions, the leg room between rows, and the fold-out desks where future students would set up notebooks and laptops. For their time, they were entered into a drawing to win a $50 Starbucks gift card. Perfect for a morning caffeine fix before heading off to the Alumni Auditorium, where the chairs are decidedly less comfortable than those planned for the Medical and Graduate Education Building.